Tabletop has GREAT views!!!

Trip Report:  Good Views from Table Top?!?  

Dates:            April 7, 2001

Location:       Adirondack High Peaks

Team:           Mike & Joe

Destination:  Table Top Peak (4,427')

Approach:     ADK Loj parking lot

Author:          Mike

Summary:

Once again, we checked into the trusted Woodlake Motor Lodge on Saranac Avenue in Lake Placid on Friday night.  Our intended excursion was to hike to Indian Falls, and then decide whether to hike Marcy (5,344'), Table Top (4,427'), Phelps (4,161'), or back to the car.  Once we hit the trail, we were greeted by snow of immense proportions.  We were stunned by it.  We hiked Wright Peak only 9 weeks ago (click here for that trip report), and the snow level at that point was relatively low.  Even the High Peaks Information Center was pretty buried!  (See picture here.)   Donning our snowshoes, we hiked to Indian Falls, and then decided to climb Table Top.  Why?  For anyone that knows the High Peaks, Table top has terrible views, has a swampy summit, and requires a bushwhack to reach the top.  So our rationale went...  "When else can we reach the summit without mucking through mud, roots, etc, and also have the potential for some nice views?"  For once, our logic prevailed, the views were tremendous, and the climb was exhilarating.  We had some great tales to tell once we hit the Pub in Lake Placid.

Details:

It was a cold damp morning start as we arrived at the Loj trail head and started hiking around 7:00am.  As in our January trip, the sun was hiding, but at least there was no wind!  Even though the snow levels were unbelievable, we left our snowshoes strapped to our backpacks, believing that there had been enough traffic to pack snow on the start of the trail.  At the trail junction for Marcy Dam & Algonquin, we put on the snowshoes and scrambled out to Marcy Dam.

As you might expect for 7:00am in a snow-covered wilderness area the week before Easter, we saw few people.  We didn't see any wild life either, but that's probably because the "KLACK-KLACK-KLACK" noise of our snowshoes probably scared everything away (or at least it gave us headaches).  We reached Indian Falls at 10:00am.  To our pleasant surprise, the clouds gave way to a brilliantly sunny day.  The tops of Marcy, Colden, Algonquin could be seen to the south.  Phelps, and Table Top could be seen through the leave-less trees.  "What should we hike?" became the big question.  The decision process, though not very sophisticated, was effective:

Joe:    "So what do you want to do Mike?"

Mike:  "The views from Marcy are probably awesome!"

Joe:    "Table Top may be the same."

Mike: [stunned]  "Table Top?!?"

Both look up at Table Top's north face...

Mike:  "It does look pretty open up there..."

Joe:    "When will it have better views?"

Mike:  "Views?  On Table Top?"

Joe:    "Dunno..."

Mike:  "Wanna' try it?"

Joe:    "Sure!"

Mike:  "Let's go for it!"

The hike up Table Top, though only about a mile, took 1.5 hours.  We found a "broken" trail (and I use that term loosely) that was made by a single person a day or two before.  It went practically straight up to the peak through some pretty thick (but frozen) brush.  Oh...  We pretty much broke trail the whole way too.  Thanks to the deep snow, our heads were well into the canopy of tree branches.  At the summit, the snow was so deep that the tree tops were at our knees.  Spectacular views of Gothics and the Great Range were to the East.  The summits of Phelps, Basin, Haystack, Marcy, Colden, & Algonquin were all clearly visible.  To tell you the truth, this was absolutely one of the better views we've seen of the High Peaks.  It's the only vantage point from where I could see the Great Range, all of the Marcy-Colden-Algonquin ranges, Marcy Dam, Heart Lake, and Mt. Jo.  After eating lunch, it took us only 45 minutes to get back to Indian Falls, thanks to the nicely broken trail!  Along the way, we met a party of three other hikers who were very appreciative of our trail-breaking efforts.  
At Marcy Dam, chickadees swarmed us at our first "seated rest" of the day.  It's amazing what so much snow does to them.  While sitting next to the trail registry, the chickadees would sit in the trees above us, and then fly down to eat food from our hands.  We found that crunched up Combos snack food went over well with them.  We arrived back at the Loj trail head just after 4:30pm, and sat in the High Peaks Information Center talking with a new friend (from Ottawa) we met & traveled with on the hike back from Marcy Dam (name omitted for privacy).
We went back to Lake Placid where we gulped down burgers and suds at the Brew Pub and turned in early.   On Sunday, we went to breakfast at High Peaks Bagel shop after discovering that all our favorite breakfast spots were closed.  We departed Lake Placid around 9:30am.

What will we remember from this trip?  Awesome views on Table Top!  Awesome (arduous?) trail breaking!

Pictures:

 TBD - Converting all the old trip reports into this blog.